Mailbox positionable wire letter holder



Dec. 4, 1951 L. s. OLSON 2,576,964

MAILBOX POSITIONABLE WIRE LETTER HOLDER Filed Oct. 21, 1949 Artur/141v Inventor Patented Dec. 4, 1951 MAILBOX POSITIONABLE WIRE LETTER HOLDER Louis S. Olson, Grafton, N. Dak.; Selmer N. Olson administrator of said Louis S. Olson, deceased Application October 21, 1949, Serial No. 122,756 1 Claim. 232-33) The present invention appertains to improvements in rural mail boxes and more particularly to a letter holder for installation therein, the principal object being to provide a holder for holding letters in upright position, within the rural mail box, so that they can be easily extracted by the mailman, who during cold weather usually wears gloves, which must be removed in order to handle mail lying flatly on the bottom of the box.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a letter holder, which when not in use, will lie flatly upon the bottom of the rural mail box.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a letter holder capable of being installed in present day rural mail boxes for a very nominal cost and which will not only have certain advantages to the mail box owner, but will be convenient and highly appreciated by rural mail men.

These and various other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to the reader of the following description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the holder in upright position, showing letters in dotted lines supported thereby.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side-elevational view of a rural mail box showing the device installed.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through a rural mail box showing the holder in upright position to support letters.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view showing the holder in lowered position.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the holder and the retaining plate therefor.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a rural mail box showing the position of the external part of the holder when the internal part is lying flatly on the box bottom.

Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals designate like parts, it can be seen that reference character A generally refers to a rural mail box having a bottom B and a sidewall C.

The holder is generally referred to by numeral 5 and consists of an elongated rod having a straight portion 6. One end of the rod is bent inwardly to a position to define a hook I. The rod toward its opposite end is bent at right angles as at 8 to provide a bearing portion and further bent at right angles to provide a leg 9, the end portion bent inwardly at right angles to provide a stop arm l0.

Numeral ll denotes a plate having a transversely curved longitudinal medial portion I2 and openings through which securing elements l3 are disposed for securing the plate to the box bottom B.

The bearing portion 8 of the rod is disposed through the curved medial portion l2 and through an opening in the sidewall C, while the leg 9 depends beyond the adjacent edge of the bottom B,

with the stop arm 10 disposed under the bottom B in close proximity thereto.

The leg 9 is disposed at such an angle, as represented in Figure 2, that when the leg is in the position shown in Figure 2 and the stop arm l0 bearing against the bottom of the box, the straight portion 6 will assume a vertical position as shown in Figure 2. Letters can be disposed under the hook I and the arm 6 will remain in vertical position, holding the upright letters, while of course, the letters prevent return of the portion 6.

As soon as the letters are removed, the pull toward the forward part of the box will cause the upright portion of the holder to return to the flat position as shown in Figures 4 and 6. Of course, the portion 6 of the holder can be overbalanced in that direction so that regardless of any pull exerted by the removal of the letters, the holder will descend to the fiat position, so that the rural mail box can be used for the reception of parcels, the holder being out of the way when in this position.

Obviously this holder can be mounted in present day boxes or installed in new boxes at the factory.

It is also possible that the holder can be made out of materials other than metal and the bottom of the box can be grooved so that the holder will lie flatly therein with the stop portions flush with the top surface of the bottom B.

While the foregoing description sets forth the invention in specific terms, it is to be understood that numerous changes in the shape, size and materials may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed hereinafter.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

In combination with a rural mail box having a bottom and a sidewall, a swingable letter holder for installation in the box, said letter holder comprising an elongated swingable element having a bearing portion, a bearing plate secured to the bottom of the box through which the bearing portion is disposed, a hook at one end of the elongated member for engaging letters, said bearing portion being disposed through the sidewall, and stop means on the outer end of the bearing portion to limit movement of the elongated member, said stop means comprising a leg having a stop arm protruding inwardly under the box bottom and for engaging the box bottom when the elongated portion is in upright position.

, LOUIS S. OLSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 470,803 Hubbard Mar. 15, 1892 566.254 Wade Aug. 18, 1896 

